


Companion

by rangerwray



Series: 30 Day Writing Challenge [8]
Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Clint steals people's clothes, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, M/M, Nesting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-07-18
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerwray/pseuds/rangerwray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day Eight<br/>Prompt: Companion<br/>Fandom: The Avengers<br/>Pairing: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, sort of implied Clint/Natasha<br/>Word Count: 722</p>
            </blockquote>





	Companion

There's a running joke at S.H.I.E.L.D that Agent Barton has a secret nest on top of the air ducts at headquarters.

Natasha, Coulson, and Fury are the only ones that know it's true, but Nat and Phil are the the only two aside from Clint himself that know the location of it. (Clint has asked them not to tell Fury because he wants a place he can hide if he needs to. They both agreed with it and Fury never made a big fuss about it.)

His nest is made of things that comfort him. He has sheets from his bed, a couple of Natasha's old shirts and a pair of her sweatpants, three of Coulson's hoodies and one of his Captain America shirts that he was willing to part with, and his uniform from the circus lines the bottom.

He usually goes up there after missions, whether they were good or bad. He goes when he's having a bad day and sometimes he just goes when he's bored. He stays up there the longest when Coulson or Natasha gets injured, and when they're better again Fury pages him to come back down.

After the whole Loki and Chitauri incident, he stays in his nest for two whole weeks. Natasha brought him food and even stayed with him a couple of nights. It was a little crowded- the nest wasn't very wide- but they made it work. At the end of the second week is when it's announced that Coulson wasn't really dead. The only reason Clint came down was because Phil wasn't in good enough condition to get up into the nest.

About six months later Coulson goes onto a mission that is only supposed to last a couple of days. On the third night they lose communication with him. On the fifth night when they still haven't heard from him, Clint asks Fury if he and Natasha can go on a search and rescue mission.

Fury refuses.

On the sixth night Clint breaks into Coulson's apartment. He takes a suit jacket, the top sheet off Coulson's bed, and twelve of his comic books. (Only ones from the box that says _**READ**_ not the box that says _**MINT**_. He knows better.)

On the seventh night he stays up all night reading the comics. He accidentally grabbed the issues out of order so he doesn't know what exactly is going on but he doesn't care.

Coulson is flown into S.H.I.E.L.D Medical on the afternoon of the tenth day. He's bruised and sore but nothing serious.

That night he finds Clint in his nest, wrapped up like a burrito in the sheet he had stolen from Coulson's bed rereading one of the comics. It takes a moment for Clint to realize Coulson's there and Phil knows better than to get into the nest without an invitation. Clint lays the comic aside and opens the blanket, inviting Coulson in.

Coulson starts to pull Clint into his arms, but stops when he notices Clint's scrunched up face. “What?” he asks, a little wary.

Clint pauses to dig around in the nest, pulling free one of Coulson's hoodies. “Here,” He hands the hoodie over. “You smell like a hospital.”

When Coulson pulls it on, he realizes it covers the worst of the bruises on his arms. He's not sure if that's really why Clint gave it to him or if he did smell like a hospital. It could be both.

After it's pulled on, Clint gladly crawls into Coulson's arms and Coulson wraps the blanket back around them both. “Don't tell me about it.” Clint says, face buried into the fabric covering Coulon's chest. “I don't want to know.”

“Understood.” Coulson replies, running a soothing hand down Clint's back. “I'm okay now.”

“I know.” Clint whispers. “You still scared me.”

“I'm sorry.” Coulson picks up the comic Clint had been reading. “Do you want me to finish reading this to you?”

Clint nods and says, “That would be nice.”

He falls asleep to the rumble of Phil's voice and Phil sets the comic aside again, running his fingers through the archer's hair.

The nest is Clint's safe haven and while it's soothing on it's own, he'd always rather have Coulson there in the nest with him.


End file.
